Today marks the sixth anniversary of the historic 2018 Singapore Summit between former U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. It is worth reflecting on that momentous event, both as a reminder of how much geopolitics has changed since then and to recall what diplomacy with North Korea may look like when Pyongyang eventually signals a willingness to restart discussions with Washington and Seoul.

To begin with, we should remember that the diplomacy of Singapore was born of crisis, notably North Korea’s 2017 nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile tests, as well as Trump’s “fire and fury” rhetoric. The Singapore Summit was also laden with risk, both of a bad deal and a return to crisis in the absence of a deal. In short, Singapore was not the halcyon days. All parties and most observers were skeptical that the summit would produce progress in U.S.-North Korea relations, and on Pyongyang’s denuclearization in specific. But there was at least a spark of hope, and that is worth something. Indeed, surprisingly — or perhaps due to shared low expectations — the Trump-Kim meeting went well enough to keep hope alive, resulting in a February 2019 follow-up in Hanoi.

The Hanoi Summit, however, revealed the irreconcilable positions held by the........

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